Hi everyone,
I am in a bit of a pickle and any advice would be appreciated. I moved from the UK to Malta 2 months ago as I am studying at the university this autumn. About a month ago I put a deposit down on a flat and and now trying to work out how I will transfer the funds to pay for the sale.
The funds for the sale will come from my mum's account which is in Italy and the funds are not from income but from sale of some land she inherited (she resides in the UK but is originally Italian).
The Bank of Valletta said I can only open a bank account as a student IF I get a maintenance grant. As i am self funding the course they said they cannot open an account (very strange!). They then said that if any other funds come into the account (I told them that I might want to transfer my mum's money into my account so that I can pay for the sale from my account when the time comes) that that would not be permitted and my account would be blocked!
I then went to HSBC and they said that I can open an account as a student BUT if I want to transfer funds from the mum's account I will need to account for how she got the funds by showing proof of her dad's will, proof of sale of the land and her bank statements - she has all of these but the bank said they need to be translated into English - so a big cost! It is then not even guaranteed that they will open the account and they may ask for me evidence!
I was initially advised by someone I knew that if I transfer the money in smaller amounts into an account then it is less likely these massive checks will be made but they didn't say how much is good to transfer each time. If I now open an account just as a student but transfer the money over slowly I am concerned, because I already told them about the money for the sale of the property, that it will be flagged up on the computer and my account blocked....
I have been told my mum can transfer the money directly to the vendor or the notary public but I am concerned their banks will also require evidence of where the funds came from (i.e the will etc)!
Any advice would be appreciated!